Prized Posessions
by bookwormwithanattitude
Summary: Much to Stephanie's dismay, Tim has gone missing. In an attempt to find him, she is forced to face her fears and inner turmoil head on, and deal with the fact that things have changed for both of them. Warning: written by a high schooler.


Steph had always loved rooftops

Steph had always loved rooftops. When she had been little, they were her only escape when she heard her crumb of a father having his not-so-nice friends over, or her Mom on one of her binges…or sometimes when the walls simply closed in on her, when her house seemed like a stifling place they'd never escape. She climb out her window and sit on her rooftop, looking at the stars, letting the cool night air take her away.

Once when she was twelve, the roof, long in disrepair, fell in and she crashed right into the living room. She sprained her ankle and pulled a muscle in her arm, but her Mom didn't even wake up. She'd had to drive to the hospital herself, praying no cop would catch her.

Those days of neglect were over, and now if Steph slipped out for the night to do a little rooftop jumping, half the time her Mom would be waiting arms crossed when she got back, and there would be a huge fight.

That never stopped her though. She just couldn't stay away from her escape.

It was a bummer she couldn't surprise Tim anymore bye crawling on the rooftop of his house, like he'd done so many times for her. The Wayne Manor was way too secure. She had to enter like a normal person.

"Hey, Alfred!" She hugged the butler when he opened the door. She always tried to appreciate Alfred as much as possible, because she considering him the only sane person who had access to the Bat Cave, and that included herself.

"Your greetings are enthusiastic as usual, Miss Stephanie. What can I do for you?"

"Is Tim around?" Stephanie said, as Alfred stepped aside to let her in.

"I am afraid he is not."

"Oh. Know when he'll be back?" Steph asked.

"I cannot say."

"How long has he been gone?"

"About a day."

"Really?" Stephanie turned to face Alfred. "You have any idea where he is?"

"No, he merely left to do a nightly patrol. He has been gone longer than this before, but just in case, Miss Cassandra and Miss Gordon are on the lookout for him."

"What about Batman?"

"He is occupied and unconcerned. As I said, Master Tim has been gone for long periods of time before. Much longer than this."

"Still…" Steph put her hands on her hips, still standing in the middle of the hallway. "I like to know where he is. He should know that."

"He does, my dear. I believe he refers to it as your 'possessiveness'", Alfred said with a slight smile.

"Oh, he's gonna pay for that. I'm going to go looking for him right now, in fact," Stephanie said, heading toward the door.

"I would not advise against it. However, be careful not to disrupt his activities if he appears to be undercover," Alfred said gently.

"I will, Alfred. See you around!"

"Undoubtedly, Miss Stephanie," he said, still standing ramrod straight as she slammed the thick wooden doors behind her.

* * *

It was her favorite time of night, when stars shown in the sky like roughly hewn gems sprinkled there at random. Old fairy tales would call it the witching hour, and though she didn't often see many witches hereabouts, certainly plenty of monsters came out of their holes in Gotham at this time.

She would be lying if she said that wasn't part of the reason she liked the hour. Plenty of ass to kick.

She hopped from imposing rooftop to rooftop, sometimes doing it with the aid of her grappling hook, sometimes by her own steam, like Cass had taught her.

She descended from high on down to the grimy streets often as well, catching a few muggers here and there.

But there was nary a sight of Tim.

She knew she shouldn't be worried. After all, Tim was the "better Robin". Smarter and more skilled than her. So she was constantly reminded, at least.

But he wasn't invulnerable.

And everyone seemed so convinced nothing was wrong…

And that's when something usually was.

She combed the city thoroughly, telling herself she was looking for crime. She stumbled upon two more attempted robberies, one attempted rape (she always took longer on those, staying behind to give the victims crash courses in some of the moves she'd used to take the perp down, and/or giving them numbers for centers they could go to, whether they wanted someone to talk to or self defense and prevention classes. She was actually glad Tim wasn't along, because he always gave her this pitying expression when she did it. There was pride there too, but it still made Steph uncomfortable) another attempted murder and she actually ran into the Baffler (how did this guy keep escaping? I mean, there was some excuse with criminal masterminds, but these guys…)

Dawn began to break, and still no Tim. She went back to her house, and thankfully her mother was fast asleep. She went to school yawning and saw Tim wasn't there either.

"You seem distracted, Steph," Bailey noted to her at lunch.

"Huh…oh. Tim's not here. I'm wondering if he's sick or something," she gazed across the cafeteria. Despite the fact it was seething, writhing pit of people of all categories, she'd have spotted Tim's bowed head and steady walk.

"Y'know, I wondered what you saw in that kid, but he does keep a cool head in a crisis," Bailey pointed her spoon at Steph. "Both of you did, actually. The way you talked, I can't help but wonder if you're secret agents or something."

"Oh, come on, Bails, do I look like I could whip any bad guys?" Steph rolled her eyes.

"Actually, you are pretty fit…"

"CHANGING the subject," Stephanie cleared her throat. Bailey smiled. Stephanie could tell she wasn't fooled at all, but she was too good of a friend to press it. Stephanie sighed and looked forlornly around the cafeteria again.

"You've got it bad," Bailey noted.

"We've known each other for a long time. And it's been a rough patch lately. I lied to him and he's mad at me. I miss…how it used to be."

"Steph, you are hot stuff. No guy could resist you. He'll come around," Bailey said confidently.

"He's too good for me," Stephanie muttered.

Bailey flipped a spoonful of spinach into Steph's hair.

"Don't talk like that or I'll kick your ass. Secret agent or not."

"If this stuff doesn't come out of my hair, I'm licensed to kill," Steph warned, but she smiled all the same.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Yo, Bats!" Stephanie said cheerfully. She was pleased the number of Batman's super secret Bat-phone hadn't changed in her absence.

"Spoiler," Batman sighed. "This had better be important."

"Just checking if Tim's home?"

"No. Please don't waste my time." He hung up.

"Why, yes, boss, it was nice talking to you too. No need to extend any courtesy to your lowly ex-sidekick!" Stephanie snapped half heartedly into the phone.

"Steph? You're not talking to Batman, are you?" she heard her mom call.

"No. Mom, I'm talking to Superman. He sends his regards to you, faster than a speeding bullet. I'm going out."

"To superhero?"

"No, Mom. To Bailey's," she lied, stuffing her costume into her purse.

The loud sigh from the living room told her that Mother didn't buy her bull. Oh, well. They'd talk later. Steph rushed out the door, and donned her Spoiler duds in the shadows. Time to find Tim, no matter what.

She'd put a tracer on his Redbird recently, to get back at him for putting one on her. She wondered if he found it, or had junked the car since then.

It was still functioning, to her surprise. HA! So she COULD outsmart Tim. Occasionally. She located the car abandoned. She looked for clues, but the only thing she could surmise, from the smelly state of the hamburger it looked like Tim had been eating, was that he'd been gone at least a day. Not good.

Was he still around here? She heard movement in the shadows and whipped around. A guy started running, not Tim, but a blonde street urchin, mid thirties. Steph jumped him.

"Talk!" She snarled like she'd seen her companions do so many times, pinning him to the ground.

"Uh…uh…about what?" the man stammered.

"Oh. Um, well, have you seen a guy in a red suit, uh, around this car?"

"Well, yeah."

"Really? Why are you hanging around here?"

"Well, I'm trying to break into it," he said quickly. "It zapped me though, so I didn't. Pleasedon'thurtme!"

Steph cocked her fist threateningly. "I won't if you tell me where that boy went!"

"I saw him go in there, okay?" He pointed to an abandoned looking building a ways away. "Please, I just wanted the hamburger!"

"More like you wanted a car," Steph scoffed, letting go of the guy. She sighed as he sniffled. Definitely not made of hard stuff, this guy. "But, you gave me info on my sweetie, so here," she gave him five bucks. "Buy a hamburger."

The guy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Miss…"

"Spoiler."

"Huh. My buddy said she was dead."

"Sometimes she wishes she was," Steph rolled her eyes underneath her mask and walked away.

Tim may have left the building by now. If he hadn't, that may be worse. It meant someone was holding him there.

She scaled the wall of the dilapidated place and peered through a window. Not much to see…wait. She saw a couple of men skulking about. She turned on her night vision lens to see better. The guys were tough looking and wore leather jackets. She'd seen them somewhere before…henching for someone…well, that was enough. These guys probably had Tim. She could take 'em.

She crashed through the window and jumped a guy, smashing his face into the wall. The other one came at her, but she kicked him in the face from her permission on the other goon's back. The third one was getting a gun. Bad boy. She shifted her weight, throwing the dude she was holding into the armed guy with the sunglasses. She grabbed his dropped gun just as the guys she'd kicked in the face got up, and she clobbered him with it.

"Now," she said, stepping on his chest. "Where. Is. The Boy. Wonder?"

Suddenly a knife came out of nowhere. She barely dodge it, it slashed her face and pinned her sleeve to the wall.

She turned her head, swearing. A scarred, sinewy Korean man with a long ponytail stood in the doorway, leering at her. Sin Fang. Great.

"Ah, another guest. And it's our captive's little girlfriend. It must be my lucky day."

"Sin Fang. How did a nobody like you manage to capture Robin?" Steph jerked the knife out of the wall with some effort. She made to throw it aside, but then thought better of it. Instead, she brandished the weapon, watching her opponent steadily.

"It was ridiculously easy. We kidnapped a little girl, and while he was rescuing her, I hit him with a dart. Remarkably, he managed to fight off the drugs long enough to get our chosen victim to safety, but _he_ wasn't so lucky," Sin Fang said casually. He kept steady eye contact with her as they circled each other. He knew as well as anyone that she was trying to squeeze information out of him so she could find Tim, but he enjoyed games, this man.

"If you've hurt him…this knife is going through your throat. I'm not bluffing," Steph threatened.

"Oh, we've hurt him. After all, the only reason I wanted him is to improve my fighting prowess. I could care less about his secret identity, and I'm not stupid enough to demand ransom…but he knocked out my tooth, humiliated me. That has fatal consequences. But I'm not killing him until he's outlived his usefulness. I keep him drugged, and I fight him. To improve my combat skills."

"And let me guess. Even drugged, he keeps beating you. And that drives you crazy, huh?" Steph snorted. Now that she focused, she could see Fang had several new cuts and bruises along his old scars.

Fang's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You're beginning to outlive your usefulness as well, little girl."

"Stop," Steph said as the henchman moved it on her.

_Think, Steph. Tim's life depends on it. Come up with a strategy. Think of something smart, like Tim would._

"You can't beat Robin. Want to try beating me? Or do you need your big bad henchies to take care of a "little girl"?" Steph said through a grin. This'd do it.

"A battle with you?" Fang snorted. "Undoubtedly that will be very short."

"Oh, I think it willlll…" Stephanie chided.

"Very well. Take off your belt, and drop the knife," Fang said in an amused sort of way.

"Little far for a first date," Stephanie said, but she took off her belt. "Why do you get knives and I don't?"

"If you are as good as you say you are, Spoilsport-

"Spoiler," Stephanie corrected irritably.

"…You will not need them."

Steph shrugged and dropped her knife. The henchman lined up around the edges of the room. Fang's eyes gleamed with a hunger for violence. Steph kept her breath and stance steady. She had to think of her training. And of Tim, who needed her.

"And we begin," Fang said and he lunged for Stephanie.

Steph barely managed to step aside. As Tim would say, the guy was no martial arts show off. Her only chance would be to remember this guy was used to fighting TIM. Tim was one of the greatest fighters she had ever known, but he was very polite. He was willing to fight dirty on the occasion when it was severely warranted and someone else was in danger, but with only his life at stake, he'd probably used kosher fighting moves. Not to mention it was likely the drugs had made the boy wonder not realize the direness of his situation. Tim was a nice guy, even to nastier villains. He just couldn't help it. Stephanie, however, wasn't quite so nice. If Fang was expecting clean fighting, he was in for a surprise.

He certainly looked surprised when Steph kicked him in the junk.

"What was…?" Fang stumbled, gasping.

"Possibly the oldest martial arts move in the world," Steph quipped.

Fang slashed her in the stomach, coming back from the blow with astonishing quickness. The cut was deep, even going through her body armor. She fell over backwards, doubled up in pain. Fang used the opportunity to punch her in the face. Hard.

She felt a tooth break under the blow, and warm blood filled her mouth. Calm. Focus. This was not as hard as Black Mask had hit her. This was nothing compared to almost dying. She could take it. She'd learned the hard way how to do that.

Through the haze, she somehow managed to grab Fang's knife. Unfortunately, she grabbed the blade, which hurt. But she still managed to flip the weapon in her hand, and shove it up the bad guys nose.

"AAGHFFF!" Fang fell back, his nostrils split and bleeding. Steph was slammed into the concrete hard, but she still managed to keep hold of the knife handle, shoving it farther and farther.

"GE HE OTH ME! THO HE IH WIF WOBIH! CHEHIN BITH!" Fang bawled.

The Help grabbed her by the arms, hard and strong. She was still dizzy and broken from the fight, but if she translated right, she'd get to see Tim soon.

She was dragged away to a lower part of the building. She saw a couple small cells ahead, that she assumed had not been here before, but had been built by Sin Fang and his associates. She was still trying to pull herself together when one of the guys carrying her jerked her mask off.

"Hey!" She spat.

"I thought so. You're the same chick who was wearing that costume before, that stupid Stephanie Brown chick from the news," the burly man who unmasked her said.

"Excuse me?" She spat again, shaking the hair that had been pulled loose from her ponytail out of her eyes, and trying to struggle free of the two strong men.

"Guess yer not dead after all. Man, I laughed and laughed when I heard what happened to you. Love it when clumsy little capes like you get what's coming to them."

"Hey, I just kicked your boss's ass, I wouldn't say that's clumsy, bucko," Steph shot back.

"That was just luck. You didn't use any of those fancy martial arts moves that Robin kid used. That stuff takes skill. You just got in some cheap shots. The Boss will wipe the floor with you next time."

They unlocked a cell, and threw her in there roughly. She landed hard on the floor "Not gonna even bother drugging a little white trash cape wannabe like you. Yer not smart enough to pull anything."

They both laughed at her as they slammed the door in her face, locking it with a loud click. She struggled up as they both walked away.

Thank God for stupid henchmen, she told herself. Now she had a chance. But she couldn't deny the words stung. It reminded her of…well. Whatever, it didn't matter. But Tim had to be somewhere around here.

Then she saw him, crumpled up in a corner.

"Tim!" She whispered, crawling toward him. "Are you-?"

He didn't move, and she turned him over, realizing he was unconscious. He wasn't too badly injured, considering what she'd feared. He was bruised and cut like Fang, and a few fingers were sticking in odd directions. Her eyes moved down. It looked like he'd tried to pull off one of his boots in his undoubtedly brief spasms of consciousness. She jerked it loose and saw his ankle was swollen. Sprained, it looked like. Some of these wounds looked like he'd definitely been kicked around when he was unconscious, though she couldn't be sure. It made her angry anyway. And SHE was the one who took cheap shots here?

"Tim, sweetie," She kneeled down, whispering in his ear. "It's Steph. Come one, wake up." She shook him. No use. They had him on some good stuff.

"I'm gonna get us out of here. Just like you would. Don't worry," She said softly anyway.

Think like Tim. Think like Batman, or Cass, or Barbara. She didn't have any lock picks that weren't in her belt, but Tim was too thorough about that kind of thing not to have a few tricks.

She scanned her surroundings. A camera was in their cell. If she broke it, she'd no doubt attract attention. She'd have to search Tim and make it look natural. Okay, what kind of person was she to these guys? Probably the kind of person who'd make out with the Boy Wonder while he was unconscious?

She leaned in close, kissing Tim on the cheek, while her fingers went over his body. It felt surprisingly creepy. Fortunately, her fingertips brushed a fingernail of Tim's that felt…thick and plasticy. Shielding the action with her body, she flipped the false nail open, and there was a small, sharp knife that doubled as a lock pick. She stuck it in the band around her leg and moved away from Tim carefully.

She eyed the lock. Looked complicated. This would take a while, especially if she was to be discreet.

"Fine, don't wake up," she said loudly and sulkily for the camera's benefit. She moved toward the door and made like she was hanging despairingly on the bars, her palm grazing the lock. Inside that palm, she discreetly inserted the pick.

Time passed. As she worked, she found herself talking to her unconscious friend.

"I miss you, you know. How it used to be. I know you're mad at me…that you didn't understand why I left and didn't tell…or why I replaced you as Robin. How could you? You're…" She sighed. "All my life, all I've wanted was for someone to believe in me. I never got that. Not even from you, really. It's not your fault. You just wanted to keep me safe. But it hurt. Everyone believed in you. How could they help it? You gave them so much reason to. Meanwhile, no matter how hard I…" she sighed. "Yeah, I'm being whiny. But I just felt so…alone. Sometimes. It seemed like no matter what I did…and then you just quit. You walked away from it all. You had their trust, their admiration, all those things I could never get and you just…threw it away. I know you had a good reason, but it hurt. Especially when you shut me out. I wanted Batman's approval, yeah. I also wanted to show you…I don't know… that I was…worthy? And look how that turned out. After that, I thought I shouldn't mess up your life anymore. I thought you…that it would be better if you thought I was dead. If you didn't have to deal with me anymore. I thought everyone would be better off just forgetting me. Then I forced myself to come back…and you just grabbed me and kissed me. Like you still loved me. I thought you would hate me. And now you're mad. And I get that. But…" She continued to fiddle with the lock, and then lowered her voice so the cameras couldn't hear. "I'm going to get us out of this, don't worry. I'm going to save you like you saved me. I won't screw this up."

And with that, she finally got the lock open.

"Ohhh, Robbbin," She moaned loudly for the camera, and she grabbed his unconscious form, dragging him over like she wanted to cuddle with him. Then, quick as a flash, she kicked the cell door open and got out as fast as she could, hitching Tim over shoulder with effort.

She tried to move quickly, but Tim slowed her down a lot. By the time she got up the stairs, the evil henchmen were waiting. She dumped Tim in a corner. "Stay there," she told him uselessly.

She slid low as they aimed the guns at her, knocking their feet out from under them. She stomped on one guy's hand, forcing him to let go of his weapon and kicked it out of range. She elbowed another guy, and his gun went off, but the bullet caught her cloak instead of her body. The third guy grabbed her hair, shoving his gun into her throat. She grabbed his hand, ignoring the pain in her roots, and twisted it back. She pushed the gun away from her and kneed him in the face.

"Nice try, but I've been training, sleaze," she hissed,

"HEY!" she heard a male voice yell. She whipped around and saw she'd let the guy whose hand she'd stomped get away. He had his gun back and now it was pointed at Tim's head.

"Back off-huh?" The man was cut off as Tim stirred slightly, shoving the gun away from his own head.

"St-Steph?" Robin croaked.

"No way! That kid has to be superhuman if he's con-

Stephanie interrupted the gunman a second time, kicking the gun out of his hand and grabbing Tim by the arm.

"C'mon, Robin, stay with me…"

Tim was still only semi conscious, and not any way near in control of himself yet, so Steph half dragged, half carried him towards the door. Unfortunately, she was met by Sin Fang and a whole fleet of gunman, and they all had their weapons pointed at her and Tim.

She put one hand up in recognition of defeat, still supporting Tim with the other one.

"Y'both have outlived yer usefulness now," Sin Fang snarled through a bandaged nose. "All I wanned was t'become the best. Good enuf to take down Batman. Learn how he moved by studyin' his little pardner, and then ge' this place cleared up for the Mafia. Kid wouldin talk, so the best bet was to fight 'till I was the best. Woulda done it too. But now…shoot fer the heart, take off their masks afterwards. If I can't take Batman fair, I'll just fin' ouwt his seceret idenitaty."

So it was about Batman all along. Figured.

_Think, Steph, think._

"What makes you think Batman would be stupid enough to have his sidekick's identity connected in any way with his real one?" Steph said as the men cocked their guns. "He wouldn't."

Sin Fang paused, brow furrowed.

"I can cut you a deal. You let Robin leave here, alive, and I'll tell you who Batman really is. Not only that, I'll tell you all his weaknesses. You can fight him, and destroy him. Just let Robin go," she said smoothly.

"How d'we know he won't go cryin' to the boss t' rescue you?" Fang snarled.

"Yeah, right. Look at him. He can barely walk," Stephanie snorted. "I don't give a rat's ass about Batman, he's treated me like crap for as long as I can remember. But I want my Boy Wonder safe. And I don't care if you kill me. This is the only way I'll tell."

Another long, pregnant pause. Steph pulled down her hand of surrender, and used both arms to steady Tim.

"I'm waiting," she snapped.

Steph held her breath as all the men looked at Fang, who stroked his chin with his finger.

"…All 'ight. Throw 'im out the door, now."

Two of the largest men jerked Tim away from her.

"Run," she hissed as they parted. "Run as well and fast as you can the moment they let you go."

"Sp…Spoiler?" Tim's voice was still heavy and confused as they dragged him away. With a clang, they threw him out the door. Stephanie listened hard for retreating footsteps. She heard Tim make his way up the street, quickly but stumbling.

She waited until she couldn't hear them anymore.

"So," Fang was suddenly beside her. Five men were behind him, pointing their guns at her. "Talk."

"Eh, no thanks," Stephanie said, stepping back a bit and shrugging.

"All I wanted was Robin out of here. You can kill me if you want. I'm supposed to be dead anyway," Stephanie was shaking, but she kept steady eye contact. This kind of death would be nothing compared to that one she'd relived, over and over.

Sin Fang's face flushed and his eyes practically caught fire "You 'ittle…"

Suddenly, the lights went out.

"Wha-?" She heard someone gasp through the pitch black.

"Nobody shoot! Freddy, your gun's in my neck!"

"What's happening?"

Someone stumbled clumsily against her, grabbing her arm.

"Steph," Tim whispered in her ear. "C'mon."

Stephanie suppressed a gasp, and they both edged out of the room, Stephanie had to grab Tim around the waist because he was threatening to fall over again. They stealthily drifted through the door, and when they were outside, Steph took off running, dragging Tim with her and not stopping until they were hidden in an ally two blocks away.

"How did you-?" Steph began, brushing her bare hand against Tim's face. He was clammy and sweaty.

"Surveying that place…when I could…knew…power grid…had to…save you…you…better at saving other people…than yourself…"

The conversation seemed to use up whatever Herculean willpower reserves he had, and he collapsed in her arms.

"Let's go home," she whispered, stroking his hair.

She carried him back to the Redbird, and found the vagabond from before was near it again, though he had appeared to have bought a hamburger with Steph's money.

"Holy shit! What happened to him? And to you?" He jumped up.

"We beat up a roomful of assassins. Because we're awesome," Steph told him.

"Lemme help you with him," the guy offered.

"You're sweet," Stephanie said, scanning her hand on the Redbird's security system so it would let her in. "What's your name?"

"Ron," he told her, as they heaved Tim in the car. "You beat up a roomful of assassins? That's hardcore."

"Well, it was something like that. Here's another fiver for the help. But if I ever see you doing anything criminal, you owe me a hundred."

"Deal!" he grabbed the money. "You're cool for a cape."

"It's actually a cloak, but whatever," Steph strapped herself in the driver's seat. "See ya."

It took her under ten minutes to get to Wayne Manor. When she got there, she kicked the door open.

"Miss Stephanie!" Alfred was just down the hall and he gasped at her entrance.

"Hey, Alfred! I wasn't trying to be dramatic; I'm just carrying Tim. He needs help."

"Oh dear," Alfred helped her cart him down the winding stone steps of the Batcave. "What happened?"

"Sin Fang kidnapped him and drugged him so they could have a never ending martial arts competition. It's obviously a heavy dose of whatever it is, but he fought it long enough to walk, talk and concoct a clever escape plan about fifteen minute ago," Stephanie sat down as Alfred examined Tim on the medical table, using all kinds of instruments to analyze him.

"Will he be okay?" She asked anxiously.

"The narcotics should be out of his system in twenty four hours with no ill effects beyond that. I shall attend to his injuries. If you don't mind me saying, Miss Stephanie, it looks like you might require medical attention as well."

"I'm good," Steph said, sifting through the medical supplies. "I learned a thing or two about medicine with Dr. Thompkins, so I can patch myself up."

"I assume you heroically saved Master Tim?"

"Not so heroically, and Tim was definitely a huge part of our escape," she told Alfred as she bandaged up a cut on her forehead.

"I thank you for locating him. Master Bruce was beginning to worry a bit, and Miss Gordon was unable to find him. Apparently somebody had "messed with" the internal computer of his vehicle."

Looked like Ron has messed with the car a little more than he let on…

"Yeah, well, I left a tracer in there, so that's how I found Tim. I guess my "possessiveness" payed off," Stephanie smiled as she finished fixing herself up.

"Indeed, Miss Stephanie. Indeed."

* * *

A day later, Stephanie went back to Wayne Manor in her street clothes. Alfred led her to Tim in the living room.

"Hey, how are you?" Stephanie said, sitting down beside him and nudging his bandaged ankle.

"All right, thanks to you," Tim said.

"You've rescued me hundreds of times. I thought I'd try to return the favor," Steph said, shrugging.

"You've helped me out before too."

"Maybe we can compare notes and see who's saved who the most. If it's not even, the winner can go and throw themselves in mortal danger, so the other one can-

Tim put his hand on Steph's, and she stopped.

"I sort of heard some of the things you were saying in the cell. It was almost dreamlike, but…"

"Oh…ah…I was just trying to pass the time…" Stephanie fiddled with her ponytail awkwardly.

"I just wanted you to know…things have changed, yeah. We can't go back to exactly the way we were before. But I do believe in you, as a partner and as a good friend. But I think you really did me disservice by thinking I would ever want to think you were dead."

"I know…" Stephanie looked away. "It's just…people think stupid things when they're scared or hurt. And I couldn't really expect you to forgive me when I couldn't forgive myself…"

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I tried to forget you," Tim said finally. "But I couldn't. Sometimes I'd find myself looking out for you in a fight, and then remember…and sometimes I'd wish you were somewhere with me, because I knew you'd say a snarky thing to this villain, or you'd be good back up in this situation. I didn't talk about you much, but I thought about you all the time. I missed you too much to remember the bad stuff that went down just before…when you came back, I finally remembered."

Stephanie considered the words for a moment.

"I'd dream about you. In Africa. Sometimes. They were usually good dreams…sometimes they were nightmares…like we'd be swinging along the rooftops, your arm around me, and you'd drop me. But mostly, I'd dream about…remember our first date?"

"Yeah, that was a nice night. Nothing went wrong."

"Right up until I went home and the pregnancy test came out positive, anyway. Well, I'd dreamed we were on that swing set, and everything was nice, and quiet, and we'd just swing higher and higher. It made me feel happy and sad at the same time when I woke up," she turned to Tim. "Steph and Tim, the dynamic duo."

"I am part of so many dynamic duos," Tim sighed, though he smiled a little too.

"Do tell," Stephanie propped her arm up against the couch.

"Well, Batman and I, Nighwing and I, even Batgirl for a while right after you…left. In Bludhaven."

"Oh, I would have loved to see that," Steph said smirking. "You made out with her on the rebound, didn't you? Betrayed by my best friend and my boyfriend! The horror!"

Tim grimaced. "Please. The only thing we have in common is you and a burning thirst for justice."

"That's not true," Stephanie teased. "You also both like tea."

"How did you-?"

"Please, Boy Wonder. She always has it in that Bat-thermos of hers and you order it to drink on our dates. I'm a trained observer of people. Plus, you're rich, and rich people are required to like tea."

Tim snorted. "If you say so."

"You had a passionate mad love affair with my best friend. Admit it. I won't be mad. She's got those dark green eyes, Asian good looks and she can knock someone out in .05 seconds! I could never compete!" Stephanie put her feet up on the coffee table, Tim made a "stop it" motion at this.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, your house is super fancy," Stephanie took her feet off the table.

"It's not my house, it's Bruce's," Tim mumbled.

"You still don't feel like you live here? After all this time?"

Tim slumped. "Nope. This is Bruce's house and I'm sleeping in Dick's room. I don't think it'll ever feel normal."

"Well, it still feels normal in the Batcave, doesn't it?" Stephanie said comfortingly.

"I guess."

"I vote you sleep there!"

They had slipped back into normal conversation so easily, it almost seemed like there was nothing between them. But once they both realized what they were doing, an awkward silence fell.

"I…Uh, want to hang out tonight? I could rent a movie. You know, as friends. Or whatever," Stephanie said softly.

Tim shrugged. "Well, I'm done with my homework…"

"Of course."

"And I probably can't go crime fighting for a few days because of my ankle…"

"A few WEEKS, mister," Stephanie warned.

"…so sure, I guess."

"Great! I'll rent some geeky sci-fi Star Trek thing, the kind of stuff YOU'D like…" Stephanie bounced up.

"Says the girl who dragged me to a sci-fi showing on our first date."

"That was to protect our secret identities, chum, and you know it," Stephanie said, heading out. "I'll drop by tonight."

"See you then."

Maybe doing a normal person thing would help them get back to being more comfortable with each other. Sure, the party at the train station with Bailey hadn't accomplished that, but that was because a kidnapper had busted in. That wouldn't happen at Wayne Manor.

At least, she hoped so.

* * *

Her mother was waiting for her when she got home.

"I know you were out being Spoiler last night, Steph. Look at your face. Almost getting killed the first time wasn't enough? I'm not going to watch as you throw your life away again!" Crystal followed her daughter to her room angrily.

"Mom," Stephanie whipped around to face her. "I used to do this for a lot of reasons. To get back at Dad. To flirt with Robin. To make UP for Dad. To prove myself. Now I do it because…I do have a lot to make up for. And it's also who I am. I can't change that I need to look out for my friends and family, I couldn't even change it in Africa. There are people out there, dying every day. I also have friends out there, risking their lives to uphold the law. I can't let them do it alone. I built a life, a secret life there. I built a death too, I know. But I have a second chance. And I'm going to take it." She put her hands on her mother's shoulders. "How you felt when you thought you lost me…and I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you then…but I had healing to do and everything was so messed up in my head…but how you felt…if I work hard, I can save other mom's from feeling that way. And other little girls from living crappy lives and making bad decisions and…dying. I'm sorry, Mom. But my friend was in trouble. And the world's in trouble. And I have to be the Spoiler. It's who I am now."

Her mother bowed here head. "I know you're old enough to make your own decisions. And I know you're a hero. But I can't take…losing you again."

"If I stopped being Spoiler, you would lose me," Stephanie said softly. "The best I can do is promise I won't lie to you anymore, and I'll do my best. Hey, I got shot and didn't manage to die. I think I can handle most of the stuff that comes my way after that."

She hugged her mother, and Crystal hugged back.

"I am proud of you," her mother mumbled.

"I'm proud of you too, Mom," Steph said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some truly grueling work to do."

"More crimefighting?"

"Nah, math homework.Then I have to find a movie both Tim and I would enjoy. But first, I'll make you dinner. You look tired."

END.


End file.
